[0.23] TajamSoft Generators

[tajampi]

Hi all:

Nice comments, thank you all and much appreciated, really.

As commented, the generators are thought at this stage to be "KSP generators", not resembling RL fueled APU turbines, dangerous military Hidrazine EPUs (Hey, Chief, don't forget to insert the safety pin on ground or during hotpit refuelings!!!!), or Ram air intakes.

But your suggestions have made my mind up to initiate the design of those commented, as are really interesting (mostly for planes, but i think are needed in the actual state of KSP). So, although the next release plans only to afford several "Blutonium generators" (with all the resources and tanks, using "real" resource this time, not like RTG magic power...), it's a promise that i will make (try at least) APUs, EPUs and a RAM air turbine (Probably not able to deploy out of the fuselage in the beginning, but time will say...). Of course will take a little time.

Cheers!

[Firov]

Hi all:

Nice comments, thank you all and much appreciated, really.

As commented, the generators are thought at this stage to be "KSP generators", not resembling RL fueled APU turbines, dangerous military Hidrazine EPUs (Hey, Chief, don't forget to insert the safety pin on ground or during hotpit refuelings!!!!), or Ram air intakes.

But your suggestions have made my mind up to initiate the design of those commented, as are really interesting (mostly for planes, but i think are needed in the actual state of KSP). So, although the next release plans only to afford several "Blutonium generators" (with all the resources and tanks, using "real" resource this time, not like RTG magic power...), it's a promise that i will make (try at least) APUs, EPUs and a RAM air turbine (Probably not able to deploy out of the fuselage in the beginning, but time will say...). Of course will take a little time.

Cheers!

Tajampi, this looks like an interesting mod. I like that you're going to model them after actual power systems.

One thing that you may consider adding is the ability to scale energy production, or put another way, the ability to "throttle" the APU. For example, if power demands are relatively low then you could run the APU at a reduced setting, thus reducing fuel consumption and energy production.

[HoneyFox]

You probably never heard of APU. It's a smaller engine on the airplanes that is started first with battery power and then the APU generates enough charge for lights, crew support and to start engines and sometimes even for control surfaces. For example, Space Shuttle used power from fuel cells, but had a hidrazine (in Kerbal words, monopropellant) powered APU for powering control surfaces on descent and whenever it needed more charge.

The small fans (Ram Air Intakes) are rarely used, just as an emergency if APU fails. I'm not saying they shouldn't be added to KSP though xD

I made an APU part some time ago to test custom engine sounds so you could hear it whine like the real one. But I used the engine module (with fixed thrust) so that I could have a nice power up and power down sound.

I knew about APU a bit, but it seems to be used usually during ramp start I guess. and it uses limited resource so that still sounds like a fuel cell (i mean you need to consume limited on-board resources to generate electricity).

[Kenobi McCormick]

Oooh, interesting. Any chance we might get an engine-shaped LFOx genset for microrovers? Something half the size of the 0.5m inline one, looking like a go-kart engine?

[Camacha]

I knew about APU a bit, but it seems to be used usually during ramp start I guess. and it uses limited resource so that still sounds like a fuel cell (i mean you need to consume limited on-board resources to generate electricity).

The main difference would be that an APU does not need oxidizer, which it gets from the surrounding atmosphere. I would guess that oxidizer should be replaced with intake air.

Coincidentally I just built a craft that could really benefit from such an APU.

[HoneyFox]

The main difference would be that an APU does not need oxidizer, which it gets from the surrounding atmosphere. I would guess that oxidizer should be replaced with intake air.

Coincidentally I just built a craft that could really benefit from such an APU.

Looks like I mixed up the APU and another system which uses hypergolic fuel and catalyst to generate high pressure gas which can be uesd to start the engine.

[tajampi]

Thanks all for the replies:

I'm making the blutonium generators, i'll show a Render of one of them:

Cheers!

[tajampi]

Hi there:

I'll show another render, now of a Blutonium container!

Cheers!

[Garoad]

Any chance we can get a different class of generators entirely which isn't nuclear and doesn't use monoprop? Something like maybe propane, or gas or kerosene powered?

Reasoning:

-Slightly more engineering design challenge

-No worries about generators using up all your monoprop leaving you immobile

I've no idea if those fuels have ever been used for power generation in an application like this... but then again, who cares?

[tajampi]

Hi all:

Sorry for not checking the forums for some time, i am working on an intake air electric generator. It's B9 Styled, pretty cool

Garoad, good idea, i could add some other resources to "feed" generators. Will give it a try.

I'm also thinking of adding the possibility of using too the resources available by Kethane's mining.

(Testing now 0.23 compatibility, and optimizing all the generators, no more engine-like fuel burning )

I will release a new version possibly today, or tomorrow.

Cheers!

[tajampi]

New Version

Check the changelog for info!

Enjoy!

[roygbiv0415]

After giving it a quick spin, I really liked the idea of yet another alternative way of generating electricity.

However, even as of the latest version, I think the balance is still not quite right. In terms of electric charge generated per minute per 1000kg weight, the three OX+Fuel generators range from 600 to 180 and 190 for the TR-35, TR-20 and TR-24, respectively. When compared to the PB-NUK Thermoelectric generator, which does 562, it appears that the TR-35 is just about on-par, and the other two did far worse. This leaves no reason to choose these over a stack of PB-NUKs, which produces much more power for the same weight, without even consuming fuel. I'd recommend slimming the generators down a bit on both size and weight, so they have a charge generated/min/1000kg of around 1000 to 1500. This makes them inferior to solar panels (3000~9000), but clearly better then the PB-NUK; so there's a reason to ponder over which to choose.

Also, it might be helpful to have a setting to only have the generator run when the total battery charge is lower than a certain percentage. It appears that now it drains fuel just as fast no matter the batteries are full or empty, and a mechanism for preventing careless waste of fuel would be nice .

[JeffreyCor]

How about a version that uses LiquidFuel and IntakeAir?

Yes!! I was planning to use this on my plane as an APU. Using LF and Air instead of Ox would be perfect! Not just air as mentioned in other spots, but LF air breathing gen.

[tajampi]

They work in 0.23.5, i will reduce their fuel cost, expect it in 2 days.

If you need them to use less fuel at this moment, go to their config and change the values on the Generator module.

I have the APU model ready, and the texture, now i have to configure it... The most boring part...

And, about they just generating when the batteries are not full, it will need a plugin, so it will not happen early, but, i have C# knownledge, so i can try when i have some time.

Cheers!

- - - Updated - - -

The spaceport link works, but new updates are going to the curse service.

[Volcanix]

Nice mod, any news on this one? I'm interested in the IntakeAir generator